Dell has been given the green light to move ahead in its planned $US67 billion acquisition of EMC, following the expiration of the waiting period required by Federal Antitrust Regulators.
At the stroke of midnight in the US, the expiration occurred to satisfy one of the conditions to the closing of the proposed transaction.
With the Federal hurdle now scaled, the transaction remains subject to approval by EMC's shareholders, regulatory clearance in certain other jurisdictions and other customary closing conditions.
“We are delighted that, with this key regulatory milestone now complete, we have taken another step on our path to becoming a combined company,” says Michael Dell, Chairman and CEO, Dell.
“Our teams are engaged in integration planning and all transaction-related work streams are on track.”
As revealed to the tech world in October, the combination of Dell and EMC aims to create the world's largest privately-controlled, integrated technology company.
Terms of the merger will see the companies merge to form a titan powerhouse, fast-tracking its bid to become a leader in high-growth areas of the $US2 trillion information technology market with complementary product portfolios, sales teams and R&D investment strategies.
“We are very pleased to receive FTC clearance as this takes us a step closer to realising our vision of creating a global privately-controlled technology company,” adds Joe Tucci, Chairman and CEO, EMC.
“Together, our investments in R&D, focus on innovation and world-class sales and service will enable our customers to accelerate their journey to hybrid cloud and digital transformation.”
Snags?
Despite the clearance, many industry sceptics believe Dell is still struggling to finance the deal, with The New York Post claiming the company required a ten day loan extension to pay the first $US10 billion chunk of debt to finance the acquisition.
Denied emphatically, and rather colourfully by Michael Dell, last week however, the news prompted an internal memo sent to staff from Rory Read, Chief Integration Officer, Dell, reiterating that the biggest tech merger in history remains on track.
“We anticipate closing the transaction sometime in the May - October timeframe, as originally communicated, subject to achieving customary closing conditions,” Read stated.